Fundamental changes brought about recently in the new machine-readable Pakistani passport has created such a furor in the country that religious parties are calling for nationwide strikes and boycott of Parliament. In what is seen by many as yet another gesture by President Pervez Musharraf to appease his US allies, the new passport shows the country's name as "Pakistan" instead of its complete constitutional name "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" and deletes mention of the holder's religion. According to the government it is too late to make changes as millions of passports have already been printed and it is unlikely to change the text or insert the religion column in the new passport because of "technical" reasons. Also, it is adamant that there would be no compromise on inscription of the full constitutional name of the country on the passport in English. However, in Urdu it still reads "Islami Jamhooriya Pakistan" (Islamic Republic of Pakistan), though in English only "Pakistan" is printed.The Pakistan Muslim League leadership is clear that in keeping with the "technical" aspects of the new passport "the exclusion of religion column for the time being may be acceptable", sources maintained, but as far as the full constitutional name of the country is concerned both the Muslim League and the main opposition party, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), have been demanding that the passport also contain "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" on it.